Tanar'ri, Maurezhi

FGd 10

ATy 6

STy 6

EGd 10

RGd 10

IGd 10

PGd 10

ResPr 4

Popn/a

Health:Karma:

3230

Origin:

Maurezhi are members of the demonic race of tanar'ri, fell creatures who inhabit the Abyss - but wish to expand their territory. The maurezhi themselves possess considerable supernatural powers, both physical and spiritual, with which to perpetrate their evils.

Known Powers:

Tanar'ri Physique: though physically less powerful than the armanites before them, maurezhi are possessed of much more dangerous powers of the spirit. While they resemble ghouls, the maurezhi are in fact demonic life forms, and possess these tanar'ric capabilities:

* Darkness: all tanar'ri have the ability to share the inherent darkness of their very souls with the world at large. This rudimentary power functions at but Poor (4) rank, but basically 'blacks out' the area a maurezhi currently occupies (it works within Near range).

* Damage Reduction / Cold and Magic: though not immune to the effects of cold or magic, maurezhi are considerably resistant to these attack vectors. When exposed to any such damage, a maurezhi may reduce its intensity by 2 CS - before any other defenses apply.

* Dimensional Transit: in addition to being able to teleport, tanar'ri can transition themselves between planes of existence. They may do so with Good (10) ability, though on a failed FEAT roll dimensionally transiting tanar'ri may be subject to error, per a failed teleport. *

* Infravision: many of the Abyss' countless layers are dark beyond mortal ken, and have never seen the light (physically or otherwise). As such, all tanar'ri have evolved the ability to see by heat as well as by visible light, and can do so with Good (10) ability.

* Invulnerability to Fire, Electricity, Heat, and Poison: the tanar'ri are hardy creatures - they have to be to survive at all in the endless, horrific wastes of the Abyss. Their forms have evolved over time to give them complete immunity to fire, electricity, heat, and poison.

* Portal Sense: planar beings all, maurezhi have the ability to perceive the various rifts that dot the planescape of the multiverse. Most of these doorways are invisible to the naked eye, but all maurezhi can spy them with ease, doing so with Excellent (20) ability.

* Telepathy: the maurezhi are able to communicate directly from mind to mind - an important skill, considering they lack the ability to speak in their normal form. They can broadcast and receive thoughts at Typical (6) rank, which beats their usual wheezing and screeching.

* Teleportation: chaotic creatures all, the tanar'ri can bend space itself to their will. All tanar'ri possess the power to teleport with Remarkable (30) ability, and can avoid teleportation's usual side effects while transporting themselves within the same plane of existence. *

Blending: maurezhi have the odd ability to wrap their bodies in a minor illusion. This skill lets them literally blur their bodies, making them appear indistinct, and hard to make out compared to the background. Others suffer a -2 CS to detect maurezhi in their vicinity with normal vision.

Body Armor: the maurezhi are rather tough despite their grisly, somewhat decayed appearance. Each maurezhi possesses Typical (6) protection against mundane attack, above and beyond their considerable supernatural defenses, armor which breaks down as follows:

Ty 6 / Fe 2 / Sh 0 / Sh 0 / Sh 0

Claws: the fingers of a maurezhi end in long, sickly talons. They may use these talons to inflict their Strength rank in Edged Attack damage in melee, though more often than not they'll wield one of their special touch powers against a foe instead.

Disguise: the maurezhi gain this power as they consume the bodies and souls of their victims. They may assume the form of those they have absorbed perfectly (Remarkable (30) ability), though they nonetheless carry the scent of death and decay about them at all times.

Eldritch Palm: instead of slashing a foe with their claws, a maurezhi can instead deliver a jolt of deathly, negative energy on touch. This energy inflicts only Typical (6) damage, but also lowers its target's Strength by -1 CS for 1d10 turns.

Emotion Control / Fear: ordinary maurezhi have the ability to instill great fear into a target they touch; victims must pass a Psyche FEAT against Good (10) rank or be unable to act. Fully developed maurezhi can also coat an entire area in fear three times per day (same intensity).

Fangs: while they often avoid using their claws directly, maurezhi are more than happy to wield their fangs against foes - they eat anyone they can defeat, after all. Like their claws, the fangs of a maurezhi inflict their Strength in Edged Attack damage with each bite.

Invisibility: fully developed maurezhi have the power of invisibility! They may use this skill at will, masking themselves from visual detection with Excellent (20) ability. Of course, this power cannot mask the smell of death and decay that surrounds maurezhi at all times.

Paralysis: complementing their fear powers, maurezhi can also paralyze a single foe with Excellent (20) ability, per the spell of the same name. Standard maurezhi can use this ability three times a day, while fully developed fiends can wield it at will.

Reanimation: one of the many powers over the dead that fully developed maurezhi have is their ability to actually reanimate dead bodies. This is no resurrection, but allows them to build zombies or skeletons out of corpses, which they can do with Excellent (20) skill.

Spectral Vampirism: like the armanites before them, maurezhi consume those they slay if they can get away with it - both body and soul. They can do this with Excellent (20) ability, though the process of consuming its foe takes a maurezhi a full ten minutes.

Every entity a maurezhi consumes may make it more powerful. If any of its victim's ability scores are greater than its own, a maurezhi will see one such ability raised by +1 CS - permanently. It gains the benefit of this ability a total of eight times, at which point the maurezhi is fully developed.

Furthermore, a maurezhi gains all the knowledge that its victim held - every last dark secret. While it cannot wield talent-equivalents like spells or psionics through this process, a maurezhi can acquire new talents for 'free' in this fashion, from weapon skills to obscure sciences.

Summoning: the maurezhi can attempt two different types of summoning, each once per day. They can summon forth ghouls with Excellent (20) ability; roll a second FEAT roll if the first succeeds, the color result determining how many arrive. White is one, green is two, etc.

Similarly, a maurezhi can also try to draw forth a small horde of manes. They can only do this at Feeble (2) rank, but if they succeed roll a second FEAT, per the above. A white result summons two manes, while each higher color result adds two to the sum of manes summoned.

Super Jumping: despite their decrepit appearance, maurezhi are rather fleet of foot, often bounding about excitedly. They can apply themselves to perform a spectacular super leap with Unearthly (100) ability, moving a full area in any direction pretty much at will.

Limitations / Enhancements:

Susceptibility: like all tanar'ri, maurezhi are weak against the use of cold-wrought iron weapons, as well as holy water and weapons. Their supernatural defenses are ineffective against such assaults, which inflict at least a quarter of their maximum Health in damage.

Equipment:

(none)

Quirks:

Unattractive 3: maurezhi are horrible, inside and out. They have a ghoulish appearance, with leathery gray skin, intimidating talons, and their horrible fang-filled maws. This makes them suffer a -6 CS to reaction rolls, if they cannot disguise their appearance.

Talents:

None initially. Maurezhi don't start out with any particular skills, but can pick up any number of talents once they get their hands on some victims. Unlike most tanar'ri, maurezhi can have skills of any variety once they get going, from sciences to martial arts.

Characteristics:

The maurezhi live only to escape from the Abyss to consume mortals, in order to expand both their knowledge and power. They actively seek out the flesh of mortals to consume, whether or not it can increase their power, for they crave it whether or not it can benefit them.

Appearance:

Maurezhi look like undead creatures of some sort. They are tall and gaunt, having gray, leathery skin. They often wear tattered clothing, and usually stand hunched over when not capering about excitedly. They have pointed, cat-like ears, needle-like teeth and long talons on their hands.

Ecological Niche:

Maurezhi are not born. Tanar'ri of lesser stations ascend to the maurezhi form as they grow in power - or are somehow manipulated into adopting this shape by Abyssal Lords on occasion. Some can 'move along' to further forms without fully developing, but this is uncommon.

Maurezhi seem almost evolved to consume mortals, though they rarely get the chance to do so. Most often they are pressed into service in the Blood War, and never get to live up to their full potential - they have powerful abilities but aren't ideal front-line combatants.

If not used to consume baatezu or other enemies of the tanar'ri to steal their secrets, maurezhi often make their way out of the Abyss in order to seek mortal victims... or attempt to waylay adventurers foolish (or insane) enough to enter the Abyss for some reason or another.

Notes:

* Depending on which version of the Planescape lore you wish to use, the maurezhi (along with the rest of the tanar'ri) may not have access to these powers any longer, having lost them due to yugoloth meddling. Their presence is at the discretion of the individual Judge.